Lance Reventlow was the son of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. As most aficionados know, he was active in motorsport during...
Whether or not most of us realize it, a most unusual man is among us. Until the late ’50s, he...
Sports car racing in the U.S. during the ’50s was unique. It was very different from the American circle-track or drag racing of the time. It was also different from previous decades or those that came after. First of all, it was an amateur sport. But unlike most amateur sports—except...
I had just been discharged from the Army and was pursuing my education with the help of the GI Bill....
During the Fifties and Sixties, one of the most popular sports car racing venues in the West was Palm Springs....
Quite a few younger folk seek me out and want to hear about how wonderful sports car racing was during the fifties. Without exception, they view those days as halcyon and lament that they weren’t there too. Those of us who were there then often look back with nostalgia, but...
In the Western U.S. during the ’50s, there were a number of road-racing drivers who went on to international success...
My first car after leaving active duty in the Army in 1953 was a 1948 Buick convertible that I sort...
The immutable rule of life is that every living thing is born, lives and dies. Publications are living things, and as such, they don’t live forever. Remember Look magazine? During the ’50s, there were four metropolitan daily newspapers in Los Angeles; now there is one. When the sports car craze...
During the ’50s, I raced XK120s. The first one was a ’52, the second a ’54. Albeit, I’m not mechanically...
Automobile racing started soon after the appearance of autos themselves. Those first events, on public highways and byways, went from...
Until Sir Jack Brabham won the Times Grand Prix in 1961, the Ken Miles-driven, John Von Neumann-owned Porsche-Cooper was the most successful Cooper on the U.S. West Coast. Even though its career was short, Miles achieved the ultimate grand slam. He won both an under-1,500-cc and over-1,500-cc main event in...
Art Evans There used to be a monthly feature in the Reader’s Digest called something like “The Most Unforgettable Character...
Some of our California sports car races during the fabulous ‘50s were not just for current vehicles. At some SCCA events, there were races for pre-WWI racecars! We called them the “old crocks.” Just one man owned all of the cars: Lindley Bothwell. Lindley was one of the most interesting,...
I’ve always been fascinated with the Goodwood Revival concept of “a magical step back in time.” For some time, I’ve...
As old age creeps up, I think of things that are a must for me and perhaps also for readers...
During the fifties, I not only had a business relationship with Bill Devin, but we were also friends. We saw each other rather frequently in later years when he and his wife, Mildred, (we called her “Middie”) moved close to my Palm Springs house. When Bill passed away in November...
I’m writing this column during the waning days of 2006. Fifty years is traditionally a significant anniversary. What I remember...
Sexual debauchery, a regime’s imminent downfall and a kidnapping fit for a gentleman were some of the highlights of the...
Art Evans Fifty years ago, the world-famous Laguna Seca race course was created by a tree. It’s interesting as well as tragic to see how it happened. Interesting in that a lot of circumstances had to come together; tragic in that it involved the death of a good friend. First,...
One of the most enjoyable—at least for me—of fifties events was the Pebble Beach Sports Car Road Races. The last...
For the last 20 years or so of his life, Rodger Ward and I were friends. Even though I had...
John Von Neumann is an important name in the history of the second half of the twentieth century. A Princeton professor, he was an eminent mathematician and physicist, instrumental in the development of computer science, a participant in the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb and a Nobel laureate....
When Porsche introduced the 4-cam racing engine, it was a sensation. Porsche Spyders with this engine soon dominated their class....
On August 4, 2007, an icon of American racing and my dear friend, John Fitch, turned 90 years old! In...
Those looking for vintage photographs frequently contact me. During the fifties, my partner, Dick Sherwin, and I published a short-lived magazine called the Sports Car Journal. To cover events, we took many photographs. I have ended up with an archive of hundreds of negatives and have used a number of...
During the fifties, everyone’s hero was Juan Manuel Fangio. He won the World Driving Championship five times, an achievement that...
During the Fifties, a number of women were involved in the sports car craze. This was during a time when...
Although there were a number of pre-WWII cars that can be described as sports cars, the craze in the U.S. began following the war with the invasion of MGs and then Jaguars. Some aficionados credit Chevrolet’s Corvette as the first American sports car. Others feel that the original Thunderbird fits...
